Voting Behavior
Party-line voting:
Supporting a party by voting for candidates from one political party for all public offices at the same level of government.
Suffrage:
Political efficacy:
the legal right to vote
the belief that one’s vote can make a difference
15th Amendment:
Black men can vote
Describe the Electoral College:
The people who vote for the president.
What is conventional (political) participation:
It means voting, trying to persuade others, ringing doorbells to get out the word, and running for office, contacting public officials, donating time and money to political office, joining an interest group or an organization
Retrospective voting:
Voting to decide whether the party or the candidate in power should be reelected based on the recent past.
Civic duty:
Motor Voter Act:
to ensure democratic rights, people should vote
was designed to expand suffrage to minorities by signing them up to vote when they got their driver’s license.
17th Amendment:
States can vote for US Senators
Define the coattail effect:
A candidate wins election because of who they are associated with.
What is unconventional (political) participation:
It means protest, civil disobedience which is a conscious decision to break a law believed to be unjust and to be willing to suffer the consequences, boycotting an establishment
Prospective voting:
Voting based on predictions of how a party or candidate will perform in the future.
Linkage Institutions:
they connect us to government: Media, Elections, Political Parties, Interest Groups. All of these institutions help to shape the government’s policy agenda which are political issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people involved in politics.
19th Amendment:
Women can vote
How does the Electoral College impede democracy:
It is undemocratic-It takes power away from the citizens (popular vote) by possibly overriding their votes. 2) It permits the election of a candidate who does not win the most votes. 3) The winner-take-all approach cancels out the votes of the losing candidates in each state. 4) It gives too much power to the swing states (Georgia, Ohio, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan).
Identify how many electoral votes each state receives:
It depends on the congressional seats of each state and the 2 senators from each state.
Rational choice:
Voting based on what is perceived to be in the citizen’s individual interest.
Legitimacy:
Referendum:
elections that are free and fair
state-level method of direct legislation that allows citizens to approve or disapprove a proposed law
24th Amendment:
No poll taxes are allowed.
How does the Electoral College facilitate democracy:
It allows smaller populated and rural states to voice their choice for president. They are not as aggressively outnumbered as they would be in the popular vote.
It reinforces the popular vote’s candidate (if the popular and electoral vote is the same).
Instead of a true democracy it functions as a representative democracy. People (state government votes for the electors) elect the electors and the electors act as their representative.
Explain what happens if no candidate for president receives a majority of electoral votes or there is a tie:
The House of Representatives (1828)
Explain all the voting behaviors:
Rational choice-Voting based on what is perceived to be in the citizen’s individual interest.
Retrospective voting-Voting to decide whether the party or the candidate in power should be reelected based on the recent past.
Prospective voting-Voting based on predictions of how a party or candidate will perform in the future.
Party-line voting-Supporting a party by voting for candidates from one political party for all public offices at the same level of government.
Factors influencing voter choice include:
Party identification and ideological orientation (Republican/Democratic and Liberal/Conservative).
Candidate characteristics
Contemporary political issues
Religious beliefs or affiliation, gender, race and ethnicity, and other demographic characteristics
26th Amendment:
18 years old can vote in elections
Explain why the Framers provided for the Electoral College to elect the President:
1. It was a compromise between the larger populated states and the smaller populated states.2. The Framers did not want the uneducated to vote for the president. 3. It reinforced federalism, where states can vote for the president. 4. They didn’t trust the direct election of Congress, the people and the state legislatures.
Explain what happens if there is no candidate for vice-president receives a majority of electoral votes:
The Senate chooses the vice-president (1836)